


Bonded for Life

by Blessed_by_the_Goddess



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-06-10
Packaged: 2018-01-26 08:55:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1682423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blessed_by_the_Goddess/pseuds/Blessed_by_the_Goddess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lord Voldemort decides to kidnap Harry from the Ministry in OotP, Dumbledore hits the Dark Lord with a spell that will ensure Harry's safety in Voldemort's grasp.  With the spell forcing Voldemort and Harry into another bond, how will they be able to get along without trying to kill one another?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing a chaptered fic, so please let me know what you think.

§§Prologue§§

Harry watched as Dumbledore and Voldemort threw a variety of spells at one another and was shocked at how many spells they knew. It was then Harry realized that he could never defeat Voldemort with his current level of education. He was far too young and inexperienced to defeat the Dark Lord and he wasn’t trying in school. He was far too reliant on Hermione to help him complete his school work. When he lived with the Dursleys, he wasn’t allow to do better in school than Dudley, so Harry had gotten so used to doing the bare minimum; just enough to pass, but not doing as well as he could have. It seemed as though Harry still had this mentality even though he was no longer with the Dursleys. Harry didn’t want to do better than Ron at school because he knew how jealous he would be if Harry did better than him. However, Harry knew he could no longer think like this. His life was on the line and he needed to know all that he could if he wanted to survive.

The emerald eyed wizard stood up and approached Dumbledore which forced the old man to take his attention off his opponent for just a split second, but that was all Voldemort needed to disappear for a moment. The next thing Harry knew was pain. His head exploded in agony as he felt something horrible coil around his mind and take possession of it. The young wizard could feel what his body was doing, but he had no control over it. He felt his mouth moving, but he couldn’t hear what was being said. All he could hear was the taunting whispers echoing in his mind from the malicious presence. At that moment, Harry knew he was going to die and his only thought was that he would be reunited with his parents and Sirius. Harry was filled with love and regret for the loss of his beloved godfather and he honestly couldn’t wait to see him again and tell him how sorry he was that he got the man killed. The taunting voice stopped and the serpentine presence flinched back at the emotions that fill Harry's mind. The coils of the presence started to loosen their grip of Harry's mind and he slowly started feeling control of his body returning to him before the presence left him abruptly.

The young wizard opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on his back with Dumbledore kneeling close by. However, before he could do anything, a hand gripped his hair harshly and pulled him to his feet. Harry yelped in pain and moved with the hand, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure and not lose a chunk of his hair. The burning in his scar told him exactly who was holding him, but he was in too much pain from the possession and the burning in his scar to do anything other than stand there. The hand gripping his hair pulled his head back slightly so Harry could see what was happening. Off to the side, Harry could see all his friends as the Order members watching what was happening. Ron and Hermione looked horrified at Harry's position, but they didn’t move to help him knowing there was nothing they could do. One of the fireplaces ignited with green flames as Fudge stepped out and released a ridiculous squeak upon seeing the Dark Lord standing there. His face paled and his mouth moving in an imitation of a fish. Harry's attention was drawn to Dumbledore as the elder wizard stood and gripped his wand.

“You lose Old Man!” Voldemort hissed and wrapped a stick thin arm around the boy’s waist, causing Harry to be pressed against an emaciated chest. Harry could feel every rib as he was pressed harshly back and the pain in his scar blazed even more with the added contact. Harry was briefly reminded of his fourth year when Voldemort had placed a finger directly over his scar and how much anguish that had caused him. The boy’s attention snapped back to the present when he felt the Dark Lord move and then the world felt like it was squeezing in on him. Emerald eyes watched as Dumbledore raised his want and threw an ice blue spell at them. The spell struck Voldemort right before the Ministry atrium disappeared from Harry's eyes and the world faded as Harry and the Dark Lord were pulled through a tube.


	2. Realization

§§Chapter 1: Realization§§

The two wizards landed in what appeared to be a dungeon and Voldemort pushed the boy into a cell. Harry stumbled forward from the force of the push, but remained on his feet. He spun around as the cell door clanged shut and stared into the Dark Lord’s crimson eyes. The two powerful wizards stared at one another before the older wizard disappeared with a crack. The loud crack had no time to echo off the stones in the dungeon before a new sound overtook it: the sound of screams. The instant the dark wizard had disappeared, Harry had collapsed to the ground, screaming loudly as he writhed in pain on the stone floor. Agony like he had never felt before coursed through his body. If he thought the serpentine presence in his mind was painful, it was nothing to the excruciating suffering he was experiencing now. His screams were amplified as they echoed and reverberated off the stone walls, ceiling, and floor.

A crack echoed and all sound ceased immediately aside from the panting breaths of the boy curled up on the floor. Harry pressed his cheek into the floor, relishing in the feel of the cold stone on his burning skin. He opened his eyes and stared at the pale man leaning against the wall opposite Harry's cell. Harry could tell by the tightness around the crimson eyes and the thin lips that the serpentine wizard had been in pain as well; however, he knew how to hold his composure better.

Voldemort pulled out his wand and Harry flinched back violently, expecting more pain. The Dark Lord smirked in amusement, but waved his arm in a wide arch as a golden light encompassed both wizards before it faded away. Harry was about to open his mouth to ask what that was when he noticed two delicate strings of magic connecting the Dark Lord and himself. The first one he noticed was a sickly green color, the color of the Killing Curse, and it was attached from the Dark Lord’s chest to Harry's forehead. This string of magic seemed to pulse slightly, as if it had a heartbeat. The second line of magic connected Harry's right wrist to Voldemort's left wrist. On both of their wrists was a band that was about three fingers wide and scintillated like the link connecting them, indicating that bands and the link were all made of magic. This magic was an ice blue color, the same color as the spell Dumbledore had hit the dark wizard with. Harry continued to watch the dazzling magic until it disappeared from view. Only then did he return his gaze to the Dark Lord.

Voldemort clearly knew what the ice blue magic was, because he released a furious hiss that made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand erect. Crimson eyes narrowed and glinted with aggressiveness before the Dark Lord spun around and began walking away. He had gotten about three meters away when Harry started to feel a prickling sensation. At five meters, Harry felt pins and needles all over, as if his entire body had fallen asleep. At ten meters, Harry felt a bone deep ache and at fifteen meters, the pain began escalating quickly. It started with a dull ache that grew into a throbbing sensation until with was a mix of burning, throbbing, and stabbing sensations that rivaled the Cruciatus Curse. The dark wizard got twenty-five meters away before Harry could no longer take the feeling and released a scream as the pain consumed him.

Hearing Harry scream, Voldemort turned around and began walking back quickly. As he got closer, the pain started rapidly decreasing until the man was standing outside the cell and the pain was gone. Harry looked at the Dark Lord and noticed that he could see an echo of pain glinting in the crimson eyes before it disappeared completely, as if it had never been there. The serpentine wizard stared at Harry before throwing the Cruciatus Curse at him. Harry cringed away harshly as he felt the spell wash over him, but nothing happened. The spell hadn’t worked! Harry looked at Voldemort in confusion, but the man was deep in thought contemplating something. After a few minutes, the dark wizard shot a black spell at Harry that blocked Harry's vision.

Without his vision, Harry froze in place unsure of what the Dark Lord was going to do. He couldn’t help the small flinch he made when he heard the cell door open and he heard the Voldemort's robes brushing along the uneven stone floor as the man approached and Harry's back grew stiffer if that was even possible. While it appeared the man couldn’t hurt him, it didn’t mean he wasn’t still terrified of the older wizard. The man had been trying to kill him for years and he didn’t think a simple spell was going to change that now.

Voldemort surveyed the youth as he approached. He watched as the boy stood completely still, his back straight and his muscles tense as if he was preparing himself for something. The Dark Lord was absolutely furious with what Dumbledore had done. While he didn’t know which one, the old fool had hit him with a binding spell, and since he was holding onto the boy when he was hit that made him bound to the boy. He hadn’t expected it to be so potent though. When he had apparated away and left the boy in the cell, the pain that he had felt had been excruciating. It had only been his Occulmency shields that had prevented him from begin on the ground screaming like the boy had been. What had been infuriating was that he could feel the boy’s pain and the binding had made it impossible for him to ignore it.

When he had returned to the dungeons and saw the boy curled up on the floor, he wanted to kill the brat for this. He didn’t want to be bound to this weak little wizard. The boy might have had power in his small frame, but he didn’t know how to use it and from what Severus had been telling him, the boy didn’t care about his education. This useless waste of magic wasn’t trying to learn all the wonders magic had to offer. The boy was too busy being popular and playing quidditch to care about his studies and that infuriated him. When he had entered the Wizarding World, he had been an outcast until he had proved his worth. He had worked as hard as he could to learn everything he could about the world he had just entered and he used that knowledge to understand how corrupt the government here was. This boy didn’t even try to learn about the world he had entered. Though he couldn’t really blame the young wizard; he was merely a product of the system now. Potter had Dumbledore telling him not to worry about things that needed to be changed in the world.

However, if he was to be bound to the boy for the unforeseeable future, he would need to correct all the misconceptions he had about the dark side and he would make sure the boy worked on his studies. He refused to be bound to an idiot. He would train the boy to be able to use all the magic he had in his small body.

Voldemort paused and cocked his head to the side. The boy was very small for being fifteen years old. Crimson eyes narrowed as the older wizard tried to work out the puzzle standing before him. Why was the boy so small? From what he could remember of James and Lily Potter, neither of them had had a short stature, and according to Severus the boy was spoiled by his relatives. Something wasn’t adding up with this and Voldemort was determined to discover the boy’s secrets.

Bringing himself back to the present moment, Voldemort noticed that Harry had relaxed slightly from the dark wizard’s inactivity against him. The serpentine wizard needed to think about what to do with this situation, but he knew he couldn’t leave the boy in the dungeon if they couldn’t be more than three meters away and still be comfortable. Voldemort approached the boy and grasped his elbow firmly, but not harshly. The binding would not allow him to harm the boy, so there was no point in trying.

Harry tensed up once more as the dark wizard grabbed his elbow, but he didn’t struggle as he was led along like a dog. The boy knew he was defenseless against the older man. He was blind and he had no idea where his wand was. Harry allowed himself to be led and he realized the familiar burning in his scar was absent. Confusion filled him, but he wasn’t sure if he could ask his question. He wasn’t even sure how to address the man. The younger wizard sighed quietly and forced himself to trust that the Dark Lord couldn’t hurt him.

Voldemort could feel how tense the boy was as they ventured from the dungeons. While he could have apparated them out, he honestly wanted to test the boy and see how far he could push him. He also wanted to make it clear that his manor was vast and with the boy being blinded, there was no way he could find his way out alone. However, so far Potter was staying fairly quiet as they went. The Dark Lord glanced over when he heard the boy sigh and felt curiosity echoing through their link. Briefly he was reminded of the green magic between them and he made a mental note to research that bond as well. He needed to know what the ice blue bond was first. That was his primary concern. Feeling more confusion from the boy, Voldemort decided to break the silence between them.

“You have something you wish to ask?” Voldemort asked in a voice emptied of all emotion. The boy started in surprise at him question and Voldemort had to steady the brat as he stumbled briefly. The serpentine wizard saw the boy nod and he waited for Potter to speak. After a few moments of silence, impatience got the best of him and he snapped. “Well?”

Potter started again, but kept his balance and dropped his sightless gaze to the ground before answering. “Um, yes, I was wondering what was happening, and why my scar doesn’t hurt around you anymore, and what I should call you and—” Voldemort cut him off as the boy began rapidly asking his questions.

“One question at a time, boy.” The dark wizard noted how Potter seemed to flinch at the word ‘boy’ and he filed the observation away for further analysis. “Stairs.” He stated as he half assisted, half dragged the boy up the steep stairs to the entrance of the dungeon. They walked up the stairs quietly before Voldemort began to answer Harry's questions.

“Dumbledore hit me with some sort of bonding spell and because I was touching you when it hit me, you and I are now bonded. I will have to look up the spell to see what effects it will have on us. I’m not sure why your scar no longer hurts, but I would assume it is because of the new bond we have interfering with the original bond. As for your last question, you may address me as sir or Lord Voldemort. I may even tolerate you calling me Voldemort; however those are your only options.” Voldemort stated in a matter-of-fact tone. His voice lowered into a hiss as he answered the last question and Harry knew not to try calling him anything other than the three options the older man had given him.

Harry nodded briefly before biting him lip hesitantly. The dark wizard could tell the boy had another question, if not more, and he wondered why the boy didn’t just ask them. The crimson eyed man waited impatiently to see if the boy would actually ask his question without being pressed. Harry took a deep breath and asked his question. “My I ask where we are going, sir?” He inquired in a soft voice.

Voldemort was beginning to get really confused by the boy. He was not acting like the older wizard expected him to act. According to his spy, the boy tended to strut about the castle like he owned the place. The boy he was guiding walked meekly beside him. The Dark Lord was beginning to suspect that his spy had allowed his hatred of the late James Potter to cloud his observations of the boy. “We are going to my chambers.” Voldemort stated and then remained silent for the rest of the way to their location, aside from telling the boy about the stairs.

As they walked, Harry slowly began to relax more and he became more docile in Voldemort's grip. Though he was confused about why they were going to the dark wizard’s chambers, he didn’t question it as he figured Voldemort wouldn’t answer. Harry thought about the situation he found himself in. He was under a bonding spell with the serpentine wizard. While that meant the older wizard couldn’t hurt him, it also meant that he couldn’t be more than a certain distance away from the older wizard judging by the test the man performed in the dungeon. If he couldn’t be away from Voldemort, that meant he couldn’t return to Hogwarts. He couldn’t see his friends again. And what about his stuff? He had no idea where his wand was and the rest of his possessions were in his dorm.

Harry mentally shook his head and tried to think about the positive aspects of this situation. Not being able to get away from Voldemort meant that he didn’t have to return to the Dursleys for the summer. Harry paused mentally as he realized that was the only positive thing he could think of aside from Voldemort being unable to hurt or kill him. Harry wondered what Voldemort was going to do to him. Was he going to make Harry stay next to him at all times? Would the Dark Lord teach him? Would he let his Death Eaters torture Harry since he couldn’t do it himself? Where would Harry be sleeping? What kind of bond did the two of them have? Could they break the bond? Harry had so many questions, but he decided to keep them to himself until they reached Voldemort's chambers.

The dark wizard squeezed Harry's elbow to let him know they were stopping. The older man gripped the boy’s hand, waved his wand, and cut the boy’s hand. He pressed the bloody line against the door to his chambers so the wards would allow him entrance. Voldemort wasn’t shocked that the bond allowed him to do this as he had no intentions of hurting the boy while cutting him. He merely needed to make the boy bleed so the wards would absorb the blood. However, he was shocked at the boy’s reaction. Harry flinched slightly but he didn’t pull away, which made Voldemort curious once again. He was determined to discover everything he could about the boy who was not acting like he should.

Once the door absorbed the blood and added the boy to the wards, the dark wizard opened the door to his chambers and pushed the boy in. The brat stumbled slightly but made no sound of complaint and he stood there waiting for what would happen next. Voldemort stepped in behind Harry and closed the door before erecting wards to prevent the boy from leaving without him. Once the wards were in place, the Dark Lord’s wand snapped into his hand and he removed the spell blocking the boy’s vision.

The first thing Harry did when his vision was returned to him was to survey the room he was in. He was standing in a sitting room with dark grey walls and dark wood floors. Along the back wall there was a black marble fireplace with white veins running through it situated between two large windows that were covered with light grey curtains. There were two black armchairs positioned in front of the fireplace seated atop a green rug. Towards the middle of the room was a coffee table with a sofa on one side and two armchairs on the other, all appeared to be black leather. Harry looked to his right and saw a small dining table with four chairs around it. Harry snuck a look at the Dark Lord and wondered if the man ate at all. The dark wizard was so thin and emaciated that Harry wondered how he had the strength he did. Harry quickly brought his attention back to surveying the room before Voldemort realized Harry was staring at him. Along the same wall as the dining table was a door that led somewhere. Emerald eyes drifted to the other side of the room where he saw another door and a writing table towards the back of the room with a stack of parchment, quills, and inkwells all arranged neatly on the surface. Harry glanced behind him and looked at the crimson eyed man briefly before looking away again quickly.

“These are my chambers. Through that door is my bedroom.” Voldemort stated monotonously as he indicated to the door on the right. “That door leads to my private library and then my study.” He finished waving his hand to the left. Harry nodded, but refused to look at the older man. “It is late, so follow me.” The Dark Lord instructed and headed to the right, not even checking to see if Harry was following.

Harry took one last glance around the room before scurrying after the Dark Lord, noticing that his robes billowed behind him like Snape's did; only Voldemort made it look a lot more menacing. When Harry crossed the threshold to the Dark Lord’s bedroom, he was unsurprised at the Slytherin theme. However, he was shocked by how little there was in the room. Against one wall was a black and white veined fireplace like there was in the sitting room with windows on either side. Before the fireplace was a black leather sofa and on the other side of the room was a large bed that could easily fit four people comfortably. On the same wall as the bed was a door that Harry assumed led to the bathroom and along the wall with the entrance was a large wardrobe. Harry quickly took in the room and then looked back to the Dark Lord who was grabbing something out of the wardrobe.

Voldemort pulled out a black bundle and threw it at Harry before stalking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. Harry looked down at the bundle and saw that it was a pair of black pants that would definitely be too big on him because that Dark Lord was over a foot taller than him. However, Harry quickly changed into the pants and held them up until the Dark Lord came out of the bathroom and could shrink them for him. He didn’t have to wait long and when Voldemort exited the bathroom, he shot a shrinking charm at the pants.

“Um, sir?” Harry asked hesitantly. Voldemort froze before spinning around and staring at him blankly. “Where am I going to sleep?” Harry hoped the Dark Lord didn’t say the bed. While the bed was definitely big enough for both of them to sleep in without touching, Harry would still be very uncomfortable with that situation. However, he didn’t think Voldemort would allow his enemy to share his bed even if they were bonded.

Crimson eyes narrowed slightly as the Dark Lord seemed to consider Harry's question. After a moment, Voldemort waved his wand at the sofa and transfigured it into a twin sized bed. Harry nodded his head in thanks and walked over to the new bed and curled up under the covers, facing the fireplace. Before he closed his eyes, Harry felt a spell wash over him and he sat up and looked over at the Dark Lord who was sitting reclined on his bed with a book. He must have noticed the confused look Harry threw his way because he responded with a sneer. “That’s to make I know when you leave that bed. We may be bonded but I have no trust for you and from what Severus has told me, you have a tendency to get into trouble. So I’m being proactive and making sure I am alerted when you decided to leave that bed.” The man stated and then returned to his book, no longer paying any attention to Harry.

Harry stared at the Dark Lord in shock for a moment before sighing and curling back up facing away from Voldemort. He closed his eyes and wondered how he was possibly going to be able to sleep knowing the man who wanted him dead for the past five years was not that far away from him. While the bed was comfortable, Harry found it hard to allow himself to relax and he spent the next few minutes shifting his position trying to get himself to relax.

The younger wizard felt annoyance seeping through their link and he once again felt a spell wash over him. Harry's last thought was the sleeping spell took a hold of him was how Voldemort could cast all these spells silently and if he would teach Harry.


	3. The First Discovery

§§Chapter 2: The First Discovery§§

Voldemort woke up slowly like he usually did and thought about the events of the night before. He stretched and waited until he heard the delightful sound of his vertebrae cracking before sitting up in his bed. Crimson eyes glanced over at where his sofa had been transfigured into a bed and he observed the boy sleeping there. Harry was curled up in a ball with the blanket covering everything but the top of his head. The Dark Lord raised a nonexistent eyebrow and wondered why the boy chose to curl up in such a tight ball when he had the whole bed to stretch out on. When he had seen the Malfoy brat in bed, the spoiled child sprawled out on the bed as if he was trying to prove that it was all his. This brat was taking up as small a space as he possibly could.

The Dark Lord shook his head and deemed it too early to try to analyze the brat as he made his way to the bathroom to start his day. He finished in the bathroom and got dressed for the day before standing over the boy and staring at him, waiting for him to wake up. The sleeping spell he had hit the brat with the night before should have worn off long ago, which means the boy was just being lazy now. Voldemort contemplated how far the bond would allow him to go in terms of casting spells on the boy and he figured there was only one way to find out. The serpentine wizard brought his wand forward and flicked it towards the boy.

Harry awoke to a stinging hex hitting the back of his head and yelped as he jumped out of the bed. He turned around and glared at the dark wizard, his emerald eyes blazing with anger. Voldemort was intrigued by the boy standing before him and he found himself liking how those emerald eye blazed with emotion. It was fascinating to him. However, he pushed away those thoughts and smirked at the boy.

“Why the bloody hell did you have to do that to wake me up?” Harry exclaimed, all his frustration from the night before coming out now. He was furious at having been woken up so and he was going to let the older wizard know how he felt.

Voldemort's smirk fell off his face and he stared at Harry coldly. He would **not** tolerate disrespect from the boy. “Watch who you are talking to, boy. I will not allow you to speak to me like that.” Voldemort hissed menacingly.

Crimson eyes observed as the brat backed down quickly at the word ‘boy.’ There was something about that word that seemed to really affect the boy and Voldemort was determined to figure out why. However, at the moment he had other things to worry about. “You have ten minutes to get dressed and then meet me back here.” Voldemort instructed Harry who nodded meekly. “I have added a few things in the bathroom for you to use now go.”

Harry scurried to the bathroom to listen to Voldemort's instructions and the Dark Lord thought about the boy staying with him. There were definitely things about Harry Potter that weren’t adding up to what everyone had been telling him and Voldemort found that he didn’t like some of the things he was seeing. While he enjoyed having his Death Eaters cowering before him and running off to do his bidding, seeing his enemy to it didn’t sit well with him. He had enjoyed the fire burning in the brat’s eyes when he had woken him and he was very disappointed that it had disappeared so quickly.

Harry returned from the bathroom quickly and stared at the ground, waiting for the Dark Lord to tell him what to do now. While he was living here, he found himself returning to the same mentality he had while he lived with the Dursleys. He was not to speak unless spoken to and he was not to make eye contact. He probably could have avoided falling into this mentality, but with the Dark Lord constantly calling him ‘boy,’ he found he couldn’t control something that had been ingrained into his head.

Voldemort considered him for a moment before summoning the bundle of clothing he had his house elf bring to him. He had sent his house elf out to get the boy some clothing until he could figure out what to do with all the boy’s belongings. Knowing that Dumbledore had cast the spell and would know Harry and Voldemort couldn’t be more than a certain distance away from one another, he assumed the man would be sending the boy’s belongings. Though, he did wonder if he could send his house elf to Hogwarts to collect the boy’s belongings. He would worry about that later.

He tossed to bundle to the boy like he had done last night and turned around so the boy could change. He waited until he didn’t hear the boy moving and he started walking over to the door that led to his sitting room. He looked behind him to make sure the boy was following him and it was then he realized the boy hadn’t put his shoes on. That really didn’t bother him as he himself never wore shoes, but he did find it rather odd that the boy didn’t put his shoes back on. Mentally scattering those thoughts, Voldemort indicated for the boy to sit at the dining table and summoned his house elf to get them breakfast.

When the house elf returned with a few things for the Dark Lord and a bigger breakfast for the boy, the dark wizard began eating his small breakfast while looking over the Daily Prophet to see if there was anything important he needed to know. After a few minutes, the crimson eyed man realized he wasn’t hearing the sounds of the boy eating and he looked over the edge of his paper to see the boy was merely pushing his food around, very little had been eaten. His eyes narrowed at the brat.

“Is there something wrong with the food? I assure you it’s not poisoned. There would be no point to me even trying when the bond between us wouldn’t allow it.” Voldemort stated in a draw. Harry looked up startled, his emerald eyes wide with shock before he looked back at his food.

“I’m just not very hungry.” Harry explained softly as he continued to push his food around the plate. Now Voldemort was definitely confused by the bloody boy. He was not acting like he should and it was starting to annoy the dark wizard. He preferred knowing exactly how people were going to act, but he couldn’t do that with this damned brat. Everything his Death Eaters had told him about the boy was being proven false and he didn’t like it. His determination to discover everything he could about the boy was increasing by the minute. While he was annoyed that his mind was being taken up with the boy, he decided it was worth it so he would know everything he could in the event that he could break the new bond between them and return to killing the boy.

Harry pushed his food around, too nervous to actually eat anything right now. He didn’t know what the Dark Lord had in store for today, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like it. He still didn’t know what was expected from him and his stomach had reverted back to how it was when he lived with the Dursleys and knew he wasn’t going to get food for a while. He knew the Dark Lord was curious about him, he could feel it through their link, but he refused to break the silence between them.

After Voldemort had finished his breakfast and it was clear that Harry wasn’t going to be finishing his, the Dark Lord stood up and motioned for Harry to follow him, not that the boy had much of a choice. Harry followed Voldemort through the library and into the study like a puppy following its master and Voldemort felt the tendrils of anger beginning to spread through him. He was getting very tired of this meek boy. He wanted to boy who fought back, not this child who obeyed every order. What the hell was wrong with the boy?

Before they entered the study, Voldemort told Harry to stay by the door as he walked through the shelves of his personal library and grabbed two books before heading through the door into his study. Harry noticed that there wasn’t a lot in the Dark Lord’s study either. There was a large desk with two chairs in front of it and then two sofas that were on either side of the door they had just walked through. There was another door on the wall between a sofa and the desk that Harry assumed led to a hallway.

The Dark Lord walked straight to his desk and sat down, leaving Harry standing in the middle of the room before the boy curled up on one of the sofas and just sat there. The older wizard raised a nonexistent eyebrow once more and sent one of the books he had grabbed over to the youth. Harry grabbed the book from the air and read the cover hesitantly. _Introduction to the Dark Arts_ stared back at him and Harry's eyes widened before they blazed with anger once more as he looked upon the Dark Lord.

Voldemort felt a shiver run through him as he saw that furious gaze aimed at him once more and he frowned mentally at his reaction. Why was he reacting in such a way? It was unnerving and he did not appreciate it, however he merely pushed it away as being related to the bond they now had. He stared back at the furious wizard challengingly, knowing the boy had a problem with the book he had given him to read. “You have a problem, Potter?” He chose to use the boy’s surname, not wanting to extinguish that fire burning in those eyes yet.

Harry snarled back, jumped up from his curled position on the sofa, and threw the book to the floor. “I am **not** reading that.” Harry hissed like a furious serpent, intriguing Voldemort. This was the boy he wanted to see. He wanted Harry to fight back like he had in the graveyard last year. He didn’t want the brat to be submissive like his minions. The boy was his only source of challenge now.

Harry glared at him and seemed to grow infuriated as the Dark Lord merely smirked slightly before opening the book he grabbed on different bonding spells and chose to ignore the brat’s tantrum. Harry huffed after a few minutes and sulked back over to the sofa, kicking the book for good measure. Voldemort was annoyed at how the brat was treating his book, but he preferred some damage to his book to the boy becoming the meek child he was a few minutes ago. Besides, any damage the boy did could be easily fixed so Voldemort wasn’t too worried about it.

Voldemort began looking through the book, hoping to find the spell the old man had used on him so he could figure out if there was a way to break it and what other effects it would have on him and the boy. Hearing something move, the Dark Lord moved nothing but his eyes and noticed how the boy had moved slightly towards to book lying innocently on the floor. The crimson eyed wizard was glad that the book was hiding most of his face as a smirk began to spread across his mouth.

Slowly, as if approaching a dangerous animal, Harry reached down and picked up the book. His curiosity and boredom were getting the best of him and he opened the book and began reading. He figured reading the book wouldn’t be a problem as long as he didn’t practice the spells he was reading. With that mentality, the boy began reading his first true introduction into the dark arts, not including what Barty Crouch Jr. had taught him in his fourth year. Voldemort was very pleased that the boy had decided to pick up the book and begin reading. He had decided that he would be teaching the boy everything he felt he needed to know. He was not happy with the boy’s level of education and he refused to be bonded to an idiot.

He planned on starting off slowly, giving the boy books to read and slowly introducing him to the dark arts and breaking the misconceptions the boy most likely had about the dark arts. When the boy’s wand was found and retrieved, and he could trust the boy not to try to attack him and his followers, he would begin teaching the boy how to cast these spells. But he knew he needed to tread carefully. He would mix the dark arts instructions with a general education that the boy seemed to be lacking. He would make sure the boy learned everything he could. He would teach the boy the Hogwarts curriculum and beyond. He had seen how low the standards of education at Hogwarts had fallen and when he won the war he would correct that immediately. He didn’t want to rule over a land of idiots and weak wizards.

A few hours after they had begun their reading, the house elf appeared with a small lunch for both of them, which they ate in silence before continuing with their books. When the Dark Lord looked up at the boy, he was pleased to note that the boy had his face close to the book and seemed to be completely enraptured with the book.

The two powerful wizards sat there for hours after lunch as they read before they were interrupted. The study door leading to the hallway opened without a knock and a crazy haired witched entered before freezing at the sight before her. Bellatrix stared in shock at the green eyed boy that sat on one of the sofas in her lord’s study and she felt a manic fury fill her. Why was this brat here?

Harry stared back and felt anger fill him as well. This was the woman who took his godfather away. She was the reason he would forever be without a family who truly loved him. Harry reached for his wand and faltered when he remembered he didn’t have it. Before anyone could do anything, Bellatrix's wand snapped into her hand and Harry was thrown to the ground, writhing in pain as the Cruciatus curse burned through him. All he could feel was the agony coursing through him. He was blind and deaf to everything. He didn’t know if he was screaming or if he was silent. He didn’t know anything other than the excruciating pain as he writhed violently on the floor.

As soon as the spell hit Harry, Voldemort was on his feet. He could feel the new bond between them pushing him to protect the boy and anger filled him. Not only had Bellatrix entered his study without knocking, but she had tortured the boy knowing that no one was to touch him except for Voldemort. There was also the bond pushing Voldemort to protect what was his.

Without thinking, Voldemort's wand appeared and his hand and he shot a spell at Bellatrix. He wasn’t even sure what spell he shot at her until he saw the color and realized he had hit her with the nightmare curse. He avoided using this on his Inner Circle Death Eaters, but she had crossed the line and he knew the simple Cruciatus curse would not be enough to deter her from trying again. Azkaban had messed with her mind too much that he needed to be careful handling her and make sure she was not anywhere near the boy for a while.

As soon as Voldemort had hit Bellatrix with his spell, the Cruciatus curse slipped off Harry, but his muscles were still trembling too much for him to do anything. A churning sensation in his stomach had Harry turning his head, despite the pain, to vomit up his lunch, once he was finished retching, he waited, trembling, for his vision and hearing to return. His hearing returned to him first and he heard the sounds of screaming, a sound that pierced his ears and made him flinch back from the sound. The flinch increased the pain he was in and he released a small whimper. His throat felt raw and he wondered if he had been screaming while under the curse. When his sight returned, he saw Voldemort standing behind is desk staring at Bellatrix as she knelt on the ground, gripping her head and screaming in terror.

Harry caught sight of the cold fury burning in Voldemort's hellfire eyes and he felt honest fear of the man. He released a gasp and whimpered in fear when those eyes fell on him. He wanted to hide away from that gaze but he was still unable to move away. He watched as the cold fury drained away from those crimson eyes and was replaced by an emotionless mask.

Harry's fearful gasp broke the fury that gripped Voldemort's mind and the bond between them tugged the Dark Lord to comfort his terrified bonded. However, the Dark Lord pushed that instinct away and focused once more on Bellatrix. He waved his wand once more and cancelled the spell on her. She stopped screaming and fell limply to the floor. The Dark Lord moved around his desk and pressed his wand into her dark mark, summing another Death Eater. To prevent another incident, the dark wizard shot a disillusionment charm at the boy curled up on the ground and then returned his gaze to his study door.

When the knock came, he bade his follower entrance and instructed Lucius to remove his sister-in-law from his present. The blonde aristocrat bowed lowly to his lord and then levitated the black haired witch from the Dark Lord’s study, closing the door behind him. Once his wards alerted him that the blonde wizard was far enough away, the Dark Lord removed the disillusionment charm from the emerald eyed boy and levitated him back on the sofa he had been knocked off before he vanished the vomit off the floor.

The boy was trembling and appeared to be going into shock. Voldemort sighed in annoyance that his reading had been interrupted, but he opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a calming draught. He walked over to the boy and gripped his chin, forcing the boy’s head up and his mouth open. The dark wizard felt a tingle of magic pass between them and he noticed how the trembling in the boy dropped drastically. It seemed his touched calmed the boy more than the calming draught would. However, he was not going to be holding the brat’s hand until he calmed down, so he poured the draught into the boy’s mouth and rubbed his throat until the boy swallowed the liquid. Harry's wide emerald eyes still looked at him fearfully, but the calming draught was making those expressive eyes droop before shutting as the boy slipped off to sleep, the shock of the curse too much for him to handle at the moment.

Voldemort gazed down at the boy and felt disgusted at the tender feelings the bond was forcing him to have for the boy. He needed to identify the spell so he could break it and rid himself of these nauseating feelings. He stalked back to his desk and continued reading, not even paying much attention when his serpentine familiar entered the room and slithered over to the sofa to explore hours later.

Harry was unsure how long he slept for, but when he awoke all the lingering pain had receded and he wasn’t trembling anymore. Harry took a deep breath before opening his emerald eyes to discover bright yellow eyes and a serpentine head right in his face. Harry yelped and jerked back as much as he could on the sofa. Voldemort looked up at the situation and deemed it didn’t need his attention, so he returned to his reading. He trusted Nagini not to hurt the boy and he still had research to do. It had been hours and he still hadn’t found the spell the old coot used.

Nagini seemed to stare at Harry for a while, which was beginning to creep Harry out. He had never been around snakes this close before and he wasn’t sure that the snake wouldn’t hurt him. Nagini was a giant serpent and Harry felt very disconcerted around her. Nagini flicked her tongue out and brushed against Harry's nose. The boy scrunched up his nose, unsure how he felt about the serpent licking him.

Nagini flicked her tongue out a few more times before slithering over to the Dark Lord and coiling around him until she was draped across his shoulders. She lifted her head to Voldemort's ear and she hissed to him. :: _Master, the boy smells like kin. Is he us?_ :: Voldemort's curious gaze looked at Nagini in confusion, as if he didn’t understand what she was saying. However, he remembered her saying something about one of his horcrux smelling like kin and his eyes widened.

The Dark Lord stood quickly from his chair and walked briskly from the room into his library, searching for a book written by one of his ancestors. He needed to know if that was the bond they had between them. He ignored the prickling sensation, indicating that he was getting a bit too far from the boy and continued his search. He needed answers now. If what he suspected was true, it changed a lot. Finding the book he needed, he returned to the room and noticed the boy had been squirming slightly with his absence, but settled down quickly with his return.

Sitting at his desk, crimson eyes quickly flipped through the table of contents before he turned to the page he needed. The Dark Lord skimmed over the text until he found the information he needed. He reread the passage a few times to make sure he fully understood what he had read before he pointed his wand at the boy’s forehead. The book said that there was a simple spell he could use to figure out if the boy was his horcrux. He waved his wand in the complex pattern indicated by the book and whispered the incantation. A dark crimson aura flitted about the boy’s head indicating that what Nagini smelled was indeed true. The boy was a living horcrux, which meant he needed to take the same precautions as he did with Nagini. He waved his wand repeatedly over the boy, causing a multitude of spells that were designed to protect horcruxes from being damaged or harmed.

Once he finished casting the protection spells and wards, his crimson eyes finally met wide and confused emerald eyes. “What were you doing?” Harry asked his voice slightly alarmed. While he knew the older man couldn’t hurt him, he had no idea what spell had just been casted on him and what they would do to him.

“What do you know of horcruxes Potter?” Voldemort asked as he relaxed back into his chair. Without the boy noticing, he wandlessly and nonverbally locked both doors to his study so Potter couldn’t escape from this conversation, not that the boy could get very far. From the boy’s blank stare, the Dark Lord assumed he had never come across that term before and that didn’t surprise him. He hadn’t discovered the boy until his sixth year and he had been reading almost every book in the library when he had stumbled across the term. This boy didn’t seem like he had ever lifted a book unless he had to.

“A horcrux is an object that one puts their soul into to prevent them from dying. It essentially makes the person immortal.” Harry looked horrified at someone putting their soul into an object, but he was still confused as to what that had to do with him. “Nagini informed me that you smell like kin to her and I remember her saying something similar about another horcrux of mine.” Voldemort stopped there to see if the boy was smart enough to grasp what he what he was trying to say.

“ANOTHER ONE! HOW MANY HORCRUXES DO YOU HAVE?” Harry seemed shocked that the Dark Lord would have his soul in multiple objects and not at what the man was trying to tell him. The older wizard resisted his temptation to roll his eyes and was about to blatantly explain the information the boy should have reached when Potter gasped and his eyes widened if that was possible. “Another one, meaning I smell like a horcrux as well. Oh Merlin I have your soul in me.” The boy’s face paled drastically and the boy began swaying as if he were going to faint. “I could never have defeated you, regardless of what the prophecy said.” Harry breathed out, his emerald eyes glazed over as if his mind was somewhere else.

“What did the prophecy say?” Voldemort leaned forward, his eyes bright with the temptation of knowledge he did not have. “I can tell you that regardless of what it says I cannot harm you due to the bond we have.” Voldemort stated, seeing hesitance in the boy’s eyes.

Harry must have realized the truth in his words because he closed his eyes and grimaced as if he was remembering something painful. “ _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies._ ” Harry recited quietly.

Voldemort leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk, linking his fingers together. It seemed as though he was thinking deeply about what the boy told him. So the boy had a power that he knew not. Was that the horcrux within the boy? Could that be the power he knew not. He knew Dumbledore would automatically assume it was love, but it wasn’t the boy’s love that had saved him. It was the love of his mother. Even when he had tried to possess the boy yesterday, it had been the remnants of his mother’s protection that the boy had activated with his emotions. Voldemort really thought the power he knew not was the horcrux. If he had killed the boy, he could have killed his soul piece and not necessarily killed the boy. However, with the new bond between him, he didn’t think the prophecy mattered anymore. The line stating that _either must die at the hand of the other_ meant that no one could kill the boy except for him and he could no longer kill the boy because of the bond.

The Dark Lord looked at the time and realized it was time for him to meet his Death Eaters for dinner. The man looked over at the boy, who had moved on to the floor and was speaking with his familiar who had slithered off his shoulders while he had been deep in thought. The two of them seemed to be getting along now that the boy knew the snake wasn’t going to hurt him.

Voldemort stood up and approached the two. Harry looked up at him with caution in his eyes, but he didn’t seem to be as fearful as he had been earlier. “Come Potter, I must have dinner with my Death Eaters and we cannot let them know you are here until you can protect yourself. While they should listen to me, like Bellatrix I feel a few of them will not be able to curb their instincts to injure you.” Voldemort stated matter-of-factly, ignoring the way the boy flinched at the events of earlier. Harry nodded and stood up to follow the Dark Lord back to his bedroom.

The older wizard walked over to his wardrobe and grabbed a long hooded cloak that would cover all of the boy’s face making it impossible for his followers to catch a glimpse of who was under the cloak. He tossed the cloak to the boy and ordered him to put it on so they could leave. Harry didn’t look convinced that a cloak was going to prevent the Death Eaters from attacking him, but he put the clock on anyway and waited for the older wizard to shrink it slightly. Once Voldemort was sure that Harry couldn’t be seen under the cloak, he led the boy out of the bedroom and down out into the hall. He made sure the boy was walking behind him and led the way to the dining room where his Death Eaters were gathered. He didn’t bother blinding the boy because the dining room was nowhere near the front exit so he didn’t need to worry about that.

Once he was in the dining room, he felt the boy tense up behind him and he once again ignored the urge to comfort the boy. He wasn’t going to comfort the brat; he didn’t comfort anyone. The boy would need to summon the courage his bloody house was known for and get through this on his own. He felt the boy take a deep breath and straighten up behind him and Voldemort resisted the urge to smirk. He felt a brief moment of pride in the boy before he pushed the feeling away and walked up to the head table and added another chair next to his.

He motioned for the boy to sit down next to him and the food appeared on all the plates like it did at Hogwarts. All the Death Eaters waited until the Dark Lord started eating before they began eating. While the Death Eaters casted confused glances towards Harry, none of them were brave enough to question the Dark Lord. If he didn’t want to tell them who the mystery wizard was, then it was not their place to ask. However, the news that Bellatrix had been punished by the nightmare curse circulated about the room like fiendfyre. Each person had their own speculation on what got Bellatrix punished, but only three people knew the cause and only two of them were in the room. Harry was glad Bellatrix was not present at the dinner. He had a hard enough time eating dinner after throwing up his lunch from the witch’s curse.

Voldemort took note of Harry's lack of appetite, but chose to ignore it now knowing the boy had enough shocks to his system for the day. The two wizards spent over an hour at dinner before they headed back to the dark wizard’s chambers. Harry followed the Dark Lord through his study and watched as the man picked up their two books before walking through the library and the sitting room to the bedroom where the man placed Harry's book on the still transfigured bed. The man walked to his wardrobe and grabbed his sleep clothes before walking into the bathroom.

Harry changed into the clothes he had worn the night before and sat on the bed, reading the book until the dark wizard left the bathroom and Harry could enter. The boy relieved himself and brushed his teeth before leaving the bathroom and curling up under the covers with his book. He felt a spell wash over him and figured it was just Voldemort's monitoring spell to alter the older wizard when he left the bed.

Harry didn’t need the dark wizard to cast a sleeping charm over him as the stressful day he had and the relaxing activity of reading the dark arts book lulled him to sleep within a half hour. Hearing a noise, the dark wizard looked over and noticed the boy had dropped the book on the floor when he had fallen asleep. The man summoned the book to him and placed it on the nightstand for the boy to collect in the morning. He marked the page the boy had finished at, using a spell to locate said page, and made a mental note to grab him a new book for tomorrow seeing how far the boy had gotten today. Voldemort stayed up for a while longer; finishing the two books he had grabbed on bonds and went to sleep frustrated that he had still not found the spell the headmaster had used on him. He would figure it out soon, he vowed as he drifted to sleep himself.


	4. The Next Discovery

§§Chapter 3: The Next Discovery§§

The Dark Lord awoke much like he had the day before, but this time he got ready for his day before even glancing at the sofa turned bed. He exited the bathroom, fully ready for the day and drifted over to the other bed when he paused at the unusual sight. The boy wasn’t on the bed. The pillow and comforter were also missing. Voldemort took a few steps back to survey the situation when he saw the corner of the blanket sticking out from under the bed. The boy was…under the bed? The dark wizard knelt down enough to see that the boy was indeed curled up under the bed sound asleep.

This was something the crimson eyed wizard definitely wanted an explanation for. However, he had to wake to boy up first. While he could cast a stinging hex on the boy like he had the day before, there was a chance that the boy would jerk up, and slam his head into the bed. On the other hand he could grab the boy’s ankle, if he could find it, and pull the boy out. However the boy could struggle and hurt himself more than hitting his head on the bed. The Dark Lord chose to hit the boy with a stinging hex because it would cause the boy less damage and he couldn’t find the boy’s ankle to pull him out. Besides, it was the brat’s own fault if he hit his head. He’s the one that chose the sleep **under** the bed.

Withdrawing his wand, the Dark Lord hit the youth with a stinging curse and was shocked when the boy didn’t actually hit his head. He did jerk and yelp, but he seemed to realize even in his semi-conscious state that sitting up would be a bad idea. The boy crawled out from under the bed and blinked blurrily at the dark wizard standing before him. Voldemort raised a nonexistent eyebrow and waited for the boy to stand up from his position on the floor. “Get dressed.” The Dark Lord instructed as he handed the boy a bundle of clothes, being careful not to touch the brat.

Harry nodded and walked into the bathroom to start his day. He made a mental note that he would need to get a shower that night and took notice of the swimming pool sized bath tub and vowed he would try that at some point. Finishing up in the bathroom and putting on the clothes the Dark Lord handed him, Harry exited the bathroom and followed Voldemort into the sitting room to eat breakfast. Once breakfast was finished, they moved through the library where Voldemort grabbed a few more books before they continued to the study. Harry once again curled up on the sofa with his Dark Arts book while the Dark Lord sat behind his desk and continued to research their bond.

After a light lunch, Harry finished his Dark Arts book and the Dark Lord gave him another one to read. Harry looked down at the covered and frowned as he read the words _Beginner’s Introduction to Transfiguration_. Harry felt a brief flash of insult that the Dark Lord had given him a beginner’s book to a class he had been taking for five years, but he forced down his annoyance. He knew he needed to start from scratch in his studies. Even in his first year, he had relied on Hermione to help him with his homework and give him her notes that he never bothered understanding the information on his own. Hermione wasn’t here and he didn’t know when he would see her again, so he needed to do this on his own this time.

After a few more hours of reading, Voldemort stood up and motioned Harry to follow him. They headed back to the Dark Lord’s bedroom where he was handed the same black hooded cloak as he was the day before. They headed down to dinner and Harry had to force himself not to freeze up again at the attention of all the Death Eaters. They stayed at dinner for about an hour before they headed off to the Dark Lord’s room and read there until they fell asleep.

They continued this routine for a few weeks before the Dark Lord changed it. After returning back from dinner, instead of going to the bedroom, the Dark Lord led them back to the study. While Harry was curious about the change in their routine, he didn’t question it and merely returned to his beginner’s charms book. Over the past few weeks, Harry had read an introduction into the Dark Arts, a beginner’s transfiguration book, a beginner’s potions book, a beginner’s defense book, and now he was on a beginner’s charms book. The beginner’s books were taking him longer to read than the Dark Arts book because Harry was reading them slowly to make sure he understand the material. He was also rereading parts he didn’t fully understand. He had noticed that the Dark Lord had gone through multiple books over the past few weeks; each containing more and more obscure bonding spells.

When he had first started reading the beginner’s books, he had been embarrassed that there were things he didn’t fully understand no matter how many times he reread the information. He was too embarrassed to ask the Dark Lord for clarification, so instead he asked the man for some parchment and a quill so he could write down the things he didn’t understand. He did this for a few days before the Dark Lord found his parchment and noticed he was writing things he didn’t understand. It was then the dark wizard informed the boy that he could ask him for clarification if he needed it. Voldemort blamed the boy’s lack of understanding on the declining standards of Hogwarts education and was willing to help Harry understand all that the boy could.

As they sat there reading, Harry got the shock of his life as Voldemort let out a furious yell and threw the book he was reading across the room. Harry froze, his eyes wide with shock and fear, at the wrathful aura surrounding the serpentine wizard. Harry forced himself not to get lost in his memories of his uncle throwing things in a fitful rage. The Dark Lord stood up quickly, flipping his chair backwards and slamming his fist on the desk which made Harry flinch back.

Harry could feel his heart racing in his chest and he began trembling in terror. His mind went blank and his instincts took over causing him to remain frozen even as the Dark Lord’s furious magic whipped though the room. The furniture in the room began shaking as Voldemort stood in place, his fist still on the desk as he released a string of curses in Parseltongue.

While the dark wizard’s violent magic surrounded Harry and started breaking things in the room, it did not actually hurt the boy. The bond between them would not allow that to happen. However, Harry could not help but feel complete terror at the Dark Lord’s rage. With his mind no longer working, he couldn’t remember that the man couldn’t hurt him. All he knew was that he was combining the Dark Lord and his uncle and he was no longer sure where he was. He was soon lost in his memory of the last time his uncle had been angry enough to throw things.

The man had gotten a call from his job about someone filing a complaint about him. His uncle had been furious and thrown his drink against the wall, shattering the glass. Since Harry had been in the corner of the room at the time, the walrus like man had started yelling at Harry and he ended up slapping Harry across the face and telling him to clean up the mess. He had blamed Harry for the complaint, saying it was his freaky magic that had caused it and that the boy was ruining his family and he should have been drowned at birth.

So lost in his memory, Harry released a frightened whimper that pulled at the bond between him and the Dark Lord. The bond snapped within the Dark Lord and pushed protective feeling on the dark wizard that was enough to pull the man out of his rage. Hellfire eyes dulled back into crimson that surveyed the petrified boy frozen in a curled up position on the sofa. The color had drained from his face and his hands were trembling violently where they still grasped the book. The Dark Lord noticed a trail of blood dripping down the boy’s chin from where he had bitten clear through his lip. The older man felt an unusual pang of regret for having terrified the boy so much and he followed the instinct of the bond to approach the boy.

Staring into the dead emerald eyes, Voldemort realized the boy was lost in a memory and was unclear as to how to get the boy back. Forcing back his reluctance, the crimson eyed man reach out a hand and brushed it against the back of the boy’s hand. The pale hand seized and dropped the book onto the boy’s lap. Harry was shocked back to the present from the icy touch and jerked his head up to meet the man’s crimson stare.

Voldemort was unsettled with how much he didn’t like the fear in those emerald eyes, but he pushed that feeling away and focused on making sure the boy was back to the present. Seeing the clarity in those scintillating eyes, the Dark Lord walked away and waved his wand to fix the things his magic had broken. Once everything was repaired and put back in its proper place, the older man pulled up his chair and sat back down linking his fingers over the desk.

“I would like to apologize for my loss of control. I discovered what bonding spell we are under and I was not happy. I also apologize for any discomfort that my outburst may have caused you.” The Dark Lord stated in a blank voice. Harry's heart was still racing slightly in his chest both from the dark wizard’s fury and the fact that the man had actually apologized. The boy was still unable to speak and merely nodded to show his acceptance of the man’s apology.

“Now, the bonding spell we are under is—” the Dark Lord’s words were cut off as a house elf appeared in the middle of the room with Harry's trunk, owl, and broom. Harry was shocked to see Dobby standing before him happily holding Hedwig’s cage.

“Mister Harry Potter! Dobby is bringing you your belongings sir!” The strange house elf chirped happily. Dobby didn’t seem concerned that he was standing before the darkest wizard alive.

“T-thanks Dobby.” Harry replied shakily, adrenaline still coursing through him from his scare. The house elf nodded happily and then turned to the Dark Lord and held out a letter for the man to take.

Voldemort eyed the creature curiously before reaching a skeletal hand with spiderlike fingers for the envelope. Once the dark wizard had taken the letter, Dobby turned to Harry and bowed until his nose touched the ground before disappearing once more.

Harry forced his body to move so he could greet his beloved owl. “Hey girl.” He whispered as he released her from her cage. The snowy owl jumped out of her cage and flew onto Harry's shoulder, nipping his ear in greeting. A bright smile flitted over Harry's face as he was reunited with his familiar. Voldemort watched this reunion before turning his gaze to the letter within his hold.

Harry looked up when he felt rage echo through the horcrux bond with the Dark Lord and was curious as he noticed the man glaring at the letter he hadn’t opened yet. “Sir?” Harry asked, still sitting on the floor with Hedwig on his shoulder. Glowing crimson eyes looked up into curious emerald before he looked back at the letter from Albus Dumbledore.

“It seems the old man has been monitoring us.” Voldemort hissed in anger. He did not like that Dumbledore had been watching the bond between him and the boy and waiting for him to figure out what the bond was. But that was the only way the man could have been able to send the crazy house elf with the boy’s belongings. Voldemort opened the letter and began reading as Harry went back to petting his familiar.

~ _Tom,_

_By now you have discovered which bonding spell I have hit you with and you know all the details. I have sent Dobby with the boy’s belongings including his wand. However, as a gesture of trust, I am giving his wand to you until you trust the boy not to attack you. You are unable to hurt the boy and you are unable to leave the boy. I ask that you tell Harry everything about the spell and that I am sorry, but it was the only way to protect him from you._

_Albus Dumbledore_ ~

Voldemort felt a flash of anger at being called his birth name, but he pushed it away knowing he could do nothing about it now. He was annoyed that the old man felt he needed to tell him to explain the situation to the boy. Unlike Dumbledore, he had no intention of keeping any of this information from Potter. The Dark Lord grabbed the envelope and tilted it, watching as a holly wand slid out into his hand. He unlocked his desk drawer and placed the boy’s wand inside, not yet telling him that he had the wand. He didn’t trust the boy not to try to attack his followers yet.

Voldemort finished putting the boy’s wand away before he flicked his own and incinerated the letter from the old coot. He banished the ashes and the turned his attention back to the boy still on the floor. “Now, as I was saying before that elf showed up. The bonding spell we are under is an old and obscure bonding spell used to end wars by uniting enemies.” Voldemort stated cryptically.

“Unite enemies?” Harry questioned, unclear of what the older man was saying.

Voldemort stared at him for a moment before he clarified. “Potter, we are under a marriage bond.” Harry's eyes widened exponentially as the color drained from his face once more. The Dark Lord honestly thought the boy was going to faint, however Potter shook his head.

“We’re married now?” Harry asked shakily. He didn’t know what to do now. He was fifteen years old and he was now married to the Dark Lord. He was still a teenager! He didn’t want to be married yet! And he didn’t want to be married to the Dark Lord!

“Yes Potter, we are married now. As I was saying, this is an obscure marriage spell that fell out of use centuries ago which is why it took me so long to find it. However, now that I know what spell we are under, I know all of the effects it will have on us. To start with, we are unable to hurt each other, which we already knew. We are also unable to be a certain distance away from each other. This we also knew, however the bond will force use to remain closer and closer until we must be touching at all times. The only way for us to be able to be away from each other would be after we consummate our marriage.” Voldemort explained. Harry's face paled once again.

Consummation meant sex. Harry was going to have to have sex with Voldemort. Harry didn’t know if he was gay, yet he was going to be forced to sleep with the Dark Lord. The room swam before Harry's eyes before everything blacked out and he collapsed to the floor. Voldemort couldn’t suppress the smirk that came to his face as the boy thudded to the floor in a faint. The snowy owl on his shoulder hooted in annoyance as she flew away and landed on the back on the sofa the boy had originally sat on. He made a mental note to tell Nagini that she was not allowed to eat the boy’s familiar.

With a flick of his wand, the dark wizard revived the boy and waited until the emerald eyes were clear once more. “Are you finished being melodramatic?” Voldemort asked with a bored tone. Harry opened his mouth to snap back, but he realized there were more important things to worry about at the moment. He could freak out more about him having to sleep with the Dark Lord later. Harry returned his focus to the man behind the desk as Voldemort continued speaking.

“This bond will also start altering our emotions as it removes all the hatred we feel for each other. It will not make us love one another, but it will make remove our hatred.” The Dark Lord stated briskly. “Finally, there is no way to remove this bond. So as we are essentially married now, it is my job to look after you and educate you as there is no way I will be married to an unintelligent boy, am I clear?” Voldemort asked as he looked dead into Harry's emerald eyes.

Harry nodded quickly, not wanting the Dark Lord mad at him. Voldemort flicked his wand and casted tempus to check the time. It was well after midnight after his loss of control over his temper and their conversation and it was definitely time for them to go to bed. The older wizard stood up and motioned for the boy to follow him back to their bedroom. The crimson eyed man needed to consider it their bedroom now as it appeared the boy wasn’t going anywhere for a while. He would also need to introduce the boy to his Death Eaters, so they knew he was not to be touched.

Harry walked behind the Dark Lord as they returned to the bedroom and got ready for bed. His mind was circling with so many different thoughts that he couldn’t even concentrate on his book. After a while, his mind eventually exhausted itself enough that he curled up under his covers and fell into a deep sleep.

While Harry slept, Voldemort considered the boy. He was now bonded to the boy for life and he would need to educate Potter on what his views actually were. Dumbledore had been spreading lies about what his true aims were and he needed to show Potter that he actually had goals for the Wizarding World. He wasn’t just fighting a war for the bloodshed. And Potter also needed to know that he was not going to stop this was just because he was married to the boy. His goals were still important to him and that wasn’t going to change.


	5. The Dark Arts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick thanks to all who have read this and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

§§Chapter 4: The Dark Arts§§

Months had passed since Harry had come to live with the Dark Lord and they had quickly settled into a routine that worked for both of them. Voldemort would usually wake Harry up with a stinging hex and they would get ready for the day. They would eat breakfast and then go to the man’s study where Harry would read whatever book was given to him and the dark wizard would work on other things. The two would eat a light lunch before Harry's lessons would begin. If they were working on simple spells, they would stay in the study. If they were doing more offensive spells, they would move down to the dueling room.

A week after Voldemort discovered they were married and a few days after his introduction to the Death Eaters, the Dark Lord had given Harry his wand back. The boy had been furious that the man had kept his beloved holly wand from him and he tried to attack the serpentine wizard as soon as the wand was in his hand. Unfortunately for Harry, when the spell hit the dark wizard, not only did it do nothing to the man, but a vicious and painful shock hit Harry's right wrist making him cry out and drop his wand. Looking up at Voldemort, the boy saw that the man had a nasty smirk across his face.

“I may have neglected to tell you something about the bond, but I was hoping it wouldn’t come up. When I said we couldn’t hurt each other, I meant it. As the dominant partner in this bond, if I try to hurt you with a spell, and actually intend to hurt you, the spell will merely wash over you and do nothing. If I try to hurt you physically, I would be unable to touch you. You, however, are the submissive partner. As such, any time you try to injure me, be it with magic or physically, you will receive a shock like you just did.” Voldemort explained tersely.

Harry glowered at the man in anger as he rubbed his wrist to sooth the ache. “And how do you know that I’m the “submissive partner”?” Harry snapped using air quotes to emphasize his point. The Dark Lord raised a nonexistent eyebrow and casted the same spell he used in the dungeon on Harry's first day here. The icy blue bond scintillated into existence forming a cuff around Harry's right wrist and a line connecting him to the Dark Lord.

“The bond links our wrists together. The bond is on my left wrists so that my wand hand is free to protect, defend, instruct, and heal you. The bond is on your right wrist so that you will defer to me for your protection and so that I can guide you. Basically, I control your wand. That is how I know I am the dominant partner and you are the submissive partner. As if you, a mere boy, could be dominant over me.” The man sneered at the thought.

While Harry was disgruntled about being the submissive partner, but he kept his mouth shut. Voldemort seemed to approve of Harry's decision and the boy felt a rush of warmth flow through the bond. Harry frowned at the feeling, but shook it away as the man started speaking again.

“The only reason I’m returning your wand to you now is because it is clear that I cannot trust my Death Eaters not to be stupid.” Voldemort stated in clear annoyance. Harry shivered as he remembered his introduction to the Death Eaters. It had not gone well.

The Dark Lord had informed Harry that he was holding a meeting to introduce the boy to his followers. Harry put on the cloak he usually wore to dinner and followed the serpentine wizard to the throne room. The boy was told to stand next to the throne which caused the Death Eaters to whisper to each other. They had been curious about the cloaked figure since he arrived because he was so short. They were all hoping his identity would be revealed to them tonight.

When the powerful wizard pulled back the boy’s hood, revealing his delicate features to the Death Eaters, outrage flowed through the room. A few of the followers tried to curse the boy. Voldemort was furious and hissed lowly as an icy cold atmosphere dropped over the gathered mass. A whimper echoed through the silent room as the Death Eaters prostrated themselves before Voldemort and Harry saw Bellatrix trembling slightly. The emerald eyed boy felt a rush of vindictive pleasure at her suffering and he remembered the pain of her curse.

Hellfire eyes glared maliciously as the Dark Lord surveyed his kneeling followers. Harry could feel the man’s fury through his scar and he was glad the marriage bond blocked the pain he would usually be feeling. When Voldemort spoke, his voice was a low, cold hiss filled with barely restrained rage. He informed the Death Eaters that the boy was not to be touched and there would be consequences for those that disobeyed. He then tortured the followers, the ones who tried to curse Harry, until they passed out from pain.

So the Dark Lord gave Harry his wand so the boy could protect himself and so Voldemort could start teaching the boy. Harry learned that once he applied himself, he actually understood the information and that he dark wizard was a surprisingly good teacher. Though the man was a hard teacher who demanded perfection before they moved on, he was fairly patient and explained what Harry was doing wrong so he could fix it and get it right. However, he did have a tendency of hitting Harry with a stinging hex if the boy took too long to get it right. Harry never argued with the Dark Lord, but that was all about to change.

After the two wizards ate lunch, Voldemort flicked his wand and sent Harry's book to the bedroom so he could continue reading after dinner. Harry stood from the sofa he had practically claimed as his own, and followed the serpentine wizard through the halls to the dueling room. When the two entered, Harry noticed there was a very humanlike mannequin in the room with them. He was very curious about what they were going to be doing and he turned his inquisitive gaze to the snakelike face.

“Today we are starting a new subject. You have been reading about the Dark Arts, now it’s time to practice them.” Voldemort stated and he knew he was going to have problems when emerald eyes widened in horror. Before the boy could state his protest, the Dark Lord hit Harry with a silencing spell. The serpentine wizard was fascinated with the way they boy’s face reddened with indignant anger, but he pushed those feelings aside. “You are going to listen to me before you start spewing the Light’s ideology. You have been told that the Dark Arts are evil because the Ministry has banned them. Most of what has been labeled as Dark Arts are traditional spells that mudbloods cannot cast or have deemed evil. The Dark Arts are merely another branch of magic that is extremely useful. Parseltongue spells were labeled as Dark Arts because mudbloods argued that speaking to snakes is evil. However, there are defensive parseltongue spells as well as healing spells.

“The traditional rituals practiced by witches and wizards centuries ago during the original holidays have been labeled as Dark Arts because the mudbloods who came to the wizarding world were not powerful enough to complete them. You are a powerful wizard, Harry. Do not limit yourself because the Ministry is listening to scared and weak mudbloods.” Voldemort finished.

Harry was speechless from both the Dark Lord’s passionate speech and from the use of his first name. Voldemort had never called Harry by his first name. The Dark Lord saw Harry's wide eyed stare and flicked his want to remove the silencing charm on the boy. The first words the boy said were not what the Dark Lord expected. “You called me Harry.” The boy whispered in shock. Seeing Voldemort's blank stare, Harry shook his head and focused on what the man had told him. “Are there really parseltongue spells?” He asked in curiosity. He had merely thought it was a language.

The Dark Lord looked at him like he was an idiot before he flicked his wand and hissed a few words, creating a fiery serpent that was a large as a basilisk. Harry stared wide eyed at the serpent as Voldemort hissed again and made it disappear. That was something Harry wanted to learn. It looked so cool to him and he wondered what it could be used for. Emerald eyes met crimson and the Dark Lord smirked seeing the desire in the boy’s eyes. The older wizard decided to move forward with his lesson as the boy didn’t seem so reluctant anymore.

“Now, unfortunately, before you can learn parseltongue spells, you need to learn the basics of the Dark Arts. Are you going to cooperate with me or do I need to take your wand until you’re willing to do the work?” the man questioned. Though Harry still looked hesitant about learning the Dark Arts, he looked excited by the prospect of learning parseltongue spells. The boy bit his lips as he contemplated his options, but he realized he would be learning them either way and he was very interested in the parseltongue spells. The boy took a deep breath and nodded his head.

Voldemort gave a small, barely noticeable smile that shocked Harry again, before the man walked away and Harry scurried to follow him. The Dark Lord spent the next few hours going over the basics with Harry and the boy was shocked at how many defensive Dark Arts spells there were. Every time he heard about the Dark Arts, it was always about the offensive spells and all the bad things they did. No one ever talked about the defensive spells out there. There was so much that Hogwarts students could learn and use to defend themselves. But Harry had to agree that it took a lot of power to be able to cast those spells. After spending hours working on the spells, Harry felt completely drained magically and physically.

He was panting when the Dark Lord finally allowed them to stop. Crimson eyes watched the panting boy closely and wondered if he had pushed too hard today. The boy had never been introduced to the Dark Arts before now and he had learned quite a few spells in the past few hours. “Come,” the man said quietly. Harry nodded and followed the man back into the hall as they walked to their bedroom. “Go get cleaned up and we will head down to dinner.”

The boy nodded and walked into the bathroom after grabbing a change of clothes. He was so exhausted and his muscles ached deeply. How did people use these spells repeatedly? He had only learned four spells and he was exhausted. He felt so magically drained that he just hurt everywhere. The boy opened the glass door that led to the shower, stepped in, and turned the shower on to hot. Harry stood there for a while, allowing the soothing water and steam to soak into his body, relaxing his muscles. The emerald eyed boy didn’t know how long he had been in there, but there was a bang on the bathroom door indicating that he was time to get out. Harry sighed in discontent that he had to leave the soothing water, but he turned off the shower and stepped out.

The boy cast a drying spell on himself and dressed quickly in the clothes he had grabbed. He walked over to the mirror and grabbed his brush to attempt to tame his hair. After a few minutes of running the brush through his messing hair, Harry decided to just give up. The boy stared in the mirror for a while looking at the clothes he was wearing. When Voldemort had seen the clothing he had from the Dursleys, the man had gathered up all the “rags” as he deemed them and set them on fire. Harry was so shocked at the behavior that he couldn’t even protest as Voldemort sent his house elf out to get Harry a whole new wardrobe. All of the clothes he had now fit him perfectly and actually looked good on him, but Harry was still slightly uncomfortable with them.

Another knock on the door brought Harry's attention back to the present and he shook his head to clear it before moving to the door. Harry's muscles still prickled in pain, but the moment he stepped out of the room the pricking pain vanished. Harry frowned, but pushed it off as the Dark Lord’s presence and the bond ridding him of the residual pain. The pair of them walked down to the dining room and ate dinner with the rest of the Death Eaters.

Dinner was slightly uncomfortable as Harry was still getting stared at by the Death Eaters. However, this had been going on for months so he was slightly used to it, but it was still very annoying. He chose to ignore it and focus on his food. The Dark Lord would always discretely hit him with a stinging hex if he didn’t eat enough. The boy thought he was a hypocrite because the serpentine wizard barely ate anything. However when he complained the man pointed out that he was not completely human and thus did not have to eat as much as a normal human. Harry then called the man a snake faced bastard and he then was hit with a burning spell that was light enough not to be blocked by the bond, but it still hurt.

After dinner, the two wizards returned to the bedroom where they both got ready for bed. Harry was a bit confused as the prickling in his muscles returned, but he hoped with a few hours of sleep it would disappear once more. As the two laid in their beds reading, Harry began to feel really drowsy, but the ache he felt began growing worse. He wiggled in his bed able until he felt comfortable and then fell right to sleep. Voldemort sat up reading for a bit longer, also feeling and uncomfortable ache. He chose to ignore it and place his book on the nightstand and lay down underneath the covers.

After a few hours of sleep, Harry awoke with a whimper as pain rushed through him. He writhed on his bed until he rolled off the bed. “Potter.” A pain and sleep rough voice called to him and Harry looked up to see the Dark Lord stiff on his bed in pain. Harry tried standing, but the pain was still so bad and he ended up crawling to the other man’s bed. As he got closer to the man, the pain began to decrease. Voldemort stayed on the right side of the bed and motioned for Harry to take the left side.

Harry wanted to disagree, but the thought of the pain he had experienced made him scramble into the bed. As he curled up under the burgundy colored silk sheets, the pain vanished completely allowing him to slump bonelessly in relief. All the pain he felt throughout the day disappeared completely and Harry felt relaxed for the first time since his lesson in the Dark Arts.

However, as he lay there, there was heaviness in the air. When Harry realized that he was laying he bed with the Dark Lord, all his relaxed muscled stiffened slightly. He was not comfortable lying here, but he knew he didn’t have a choice. The bed was big enough so that they didn’t have to be touching, but they could both feel the other’s presence distinctly and they were uncomfortable with the lack of distance between them. Harry lay on his side, facing away from the Dark Lord as to avoid looking at the man. Unfortunately, Harry didn’t like starting off sleeping like this. He usually woke up like this, but he always fell asleep laying on his left side.

Harry wanted to roll over so he could sleep, but he didn’t think he could handle facing the Dark Lord now that he was sharing the man’s bed. Harry bit his lip harshly before choosing sleep over awkwardness. The boy rolled over, but closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to look upon the Dark Lord. Unfortunately, this didn’t work for the boy as he could feel those crimson eyes staring at him. He heart was beating faster than normal and Harry was almost positive the older man could hear it in the silent room.

It was unclear how long the two of them laid there, both stiff as boards, but eventually Harry relaxed enough that he was able to sleep off into sleep. The Dark Lord stayed awake a while longer just staring at the boy. He thought back to the lesson he had with the boy was he still couldn’t believe he had actually called the boy Harry allowed. He supposed he had gotten so worked up in making the boy understand that the Dark Arts weren’t evil that he lost himself. He had been noticing more and more slips in control around the boy and he was not comfortable with it.

His mind drifted back to the passage he read on the marriage bond between them. It said the dominant partner would start to become more and more protective of their submissive partner, and that they would change their behavior a bit to make said partner more comfortable. He was not comfortable with changing for the boy, but it appeared that he no longer had a choice. As long as he did not turn into a weak wizard, he would deal with the changes as best he could. And no one said the changes had to be shown outside his chambers. He could allow the boy to be comfortable around him while still maintaining his appearance before his followers. If there was one thing he was sure about, it was that the boy was **not** going to make him change his ideals. He had worked too hard to get this far only for it to fall to the whims of a mere boy who did not understand what he was fighting for. As the Dark Lord allowed himself to slip off to sleep, he decided he would teach Harry about what he was fighting for and how the Ministry and Hogwarts were ruining their world.


	6. The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this chapter, but I found it rather difficult to write. My original plan for this chapter didn't work out, so I had to come up with something new. I hope you all enjoy it.

§§Chapter 5: The Past§§

Crimson eyes opened slowly as the Dark Lord sat up in bed and stretched. He heard the satisfying pop from his spine and released a hiss of pleasure. He glanced next to him and frowned in confusion at the sight of the boy sitting up in bed, reading his beginner’s rune text. Why was the boy up before him? This was a first for the Dark Lord. Harry seemed very absorbed in the text, so Voldemort took a moment to observe the boy. He noticed that Harry was rather pale, paler than he normally was and his hands were shaking slightly. There was a slight sheen of sweat across his forehead and on his bare chest. Voldemort's eyes lingered a bit too long on the boy’s chest before he shook his head and forced himself to continue with his observations. Harry's hands shook slightly where they held a book that he didn’t seem much further in than he had the night before.

The Dark Lord recognized the signs of a nightmare and figured Harry hadn’t been awake long before Voldemort had woken up. He was slightly surprised that the bond hadn’t woken him up if his spouse had been having a nightmare, but he supposed it hadn’t been bad enough to trigger the bond.

“Harry.” Voldemort stated, bringing the boy’s attention from his book. Wide emerald eyes stared at him in shock and surprise. It was clear the boy hadn’t even heard him waking up. “Why are you up so early? Usually I have to hit you with a stinging hex to get you up.” Voldemort made sure to keep the curiosity in his voice, but he managed to hide the slight concern creeping into him from the bond.

“I-I just didn’t sleep well.” Harry stuttered out. Crimson eyes narrowed at the obvious omission of truth. The bond pulsed slightly indicating that Harry was keeping something from the dominant partner that could affect his health. The pulse wasn’t bad enough that he needed to take immediate action, but the Dark Lord would definitely be keeping an eye on the boy from now on. Sleep deprivation could later affect his magic, which would show in their lessons.

Voldemort got out of bed and waited for the boy to do the same. Harry marked his page in the book and slid out of bed to follow the Dark Lord to the bathroom. While they didn’t yet have to be in the same room at all times, the bond would not allow them to be far enough away from one another, and so one person had to stand outside the bathroom door while the other was in the bathroom.

Finished with their morning routine, the two wizards headed for breakfast where Harry proceeded to push most of his food around on the plate. Crimson eyes narrowed as they noticed the boy’s hands were still shaking. It would appear that the boy’s nightmare was still affecting him. The dark wizard refrained from saying anything and the two continued with their daily routine as usual. They read until lunch and then headed down to complete Harry's lessons. Harry did fairly well in his lessons on the Dark Arts. He didn’t wear himself out as much like he had in their first lesson, so the Dark Lord considered that an improvement. After their lesson, the two of them headed to dinner.

The Dark Lord watched shrewdly as Harry pushed his dinner around his plate. The boy had been here for months and he had never once eaten a full meal except for his lunch which was usually ridiculously small. The bond was pushing him to remedy this issue, but he first had to discover the cause of the problem. Why was the boy eating so little?

Pulling his attention away from Harry's plate, Voldemort observed the boy’s figure and noticed it was still annoyingly small. He remembered when he had held the boy in his arms at the Ministry and he distinctly recalled how thin the boy felt. He recollected feeling the boy’s ribs from his grip around the boy’s waist and at the time it hadn’t bothered him. Looking at the boy now, Voldemort was annoyed that Harry was still as small as he had been in the Ministry. Something was preventing the boy from eating all that he should. He wondered what it could be. The dark wizard thought back to his years at Hogwarts and he knew the food was delicious. So the boy should have been getting enough to eat there. Severus had also told him that the boy had been spoiled at his relatives, but Voldemort wasn’t so sure how much stock he could put in his spy’s information.

Could it have something to do with his relatives? All the information he received about the boy stated that he was a spoiled prince, much like the Malfoy brat. However, Harry and Draco acted nothing alike. Draco acted like he was entitled to everything he wanted. Harry sometimes looked so grateful for what he had. Voldemort could no longer believe that Harry was spoiled. But if that was the case, then what was the boy’s home life like?

After dinner, the two returned briefly to the study where Voldemort sat down quickly and wrote a letter. Harry didn’t bother grabbing his book as he knew they weren’t going to be there that long. Once the man had finished his letter, he grabbed it and a few other things and then headed out to the owlery. Voldemort headed over to one of his many owls and called it down to him. Wanting to give the Dark Lord as much privacy as he could, Harry walked over to his beloved familiar and called her down to him.

Harry sat down on the stone bench and ignored the prickle he could feel from the bond between him and the dark wizard. They were close enough that it was annoying, but not far enough away for it to be painful. Harry stroked Hedwig’s beautiful white feathers as he started talking. “I had a nightmare again, Hedwig.” Harry spoke quietly so the serpentine wizard wouldn’t hear him. “I was back at the Dursleys. You remember how they were, don’t you girl. They hated us and locked us both up. I had a nightmare that we were both back there, and that we were locked back up in that room again. I dreamed that Uncle was mad again and that I could hear the shattering of the glass as he threw his cup against the wall. I can still feel his slap when I think about it, you know?” Harry revealed his secrets to his beloved familiar. He was unaware that Voldemort could hear every word he spoke.

“I know Voldemort is watching me while I eat, but I just can’t eat a lot of food. I keep thinking about Uncle and how he would take food from me after teasing me with a full plate. I guess I’ve just gotten so used to not eating anything. Every time I try to eat more, I feel like I’m going to get sick.” Harry confided in his owl. Hedwig hooted gently and nipped at his fingers. Harry smiled gently and nuzzled his face into her soft downy feathers.

“Harry.” Voldemort called keeping in his temper at what he had been hearing. “It’s time to head back now.” Emerald eyes glanced up before Harry nodded and lifted his arm to Hedwig could take off and return to her perch. Harry stood from the bench and followed Voldemort out of the owlery. The boy released a faint sigh of relief as the irritating prickling sensation disappeared as the two walked closed to one another.

The boy noticed the man walking beside him seemed to be thinking about something intently, and his posture was extremely stiff as he walked. He wondered what the man was thinking, but he figured if it was making the man as stiff as he was, Harry figured it was better not to know. Their walk was silent as they headed back to the bedroom. It was late and Harry was getting sleepy after his day.

When they reached the bedroom, Voldemort told Harry to get ready for bed and handed the boy his sleeping clothes. As Harry reached out to touch them, Voldemort reached forward and made sure their hands brushed slightly. Releasing the bundle of clothing, the dark wizard dragged his finger slowly back, enjoying the crimson stain that bloomed across the boy’s cheeks. It calmed his raging temper for a moment.

Harry scurried away quickly into the bathroom to change and get ready for bed. Voldemort stood outside the door so as to not stretch the bond too much and he contemplated what he had overheard in owlery. From what the boy had confessed to his owl, his home life had been less than pleasant and it was affecting the boy’s sleep. He wondered what else the boy had to deal with while there. It was clear that was where the boy’s problems with food started and he wondered what else the boy’s relatives had done to him while Harry had been in their care.

Harry exited the bathroom a few minutes later and they switched positions with the Dark Lord in the bathroom and Harry stood outside and waited. While Harry waited, he also thought about what he had been telling Hedwig. He still couldn’t get his nightmare out of his mind and it had been bothering him all day. He was confused as to why he had even had the nightmare to begin with. It wasn’t like his treatment with the Dursleys had been something new he had experienced. He went through that situation every summer and it was always the same. He bit his lip slightly as he thought about it, but quickly cleared his expression and pushed the thoughts away as he heard the bathroom door click open.

Harry followed the Dark Lord over to the bed and crawled onto what had become his side. He was about to grab his book off the nightstand when he noticed Voldemort was staring at him. Retracting his hand from where he had been reaching for his book, he dropped the appendage onto his lap and turned his body slightly towards the older wizard and waited for the man to speak.

Voldemort observed Harry a little while longer before he actually decided to speak. “It has come to my attention that there are things we need to speak about sooner rather than later. Do you care to guess what these things may be?” The man inquired, careful to keep the simmering rage out of his tone. It wouldn’t do to scare the boy. The Dark Lord knew it was going to be a long night trying to get Harry to talk to him about his past.

Harry looked at the serpentine wizard in confusion. He couldn’t think of anything they needed to talk about right this moment. Nothing seemed to be wrong and if it was about this lessons, then the man would have explained that tomorrow either in the study before lunch or when they were in the dueling room practicing the spells. He wracked his mind desperately trying to think of what the man wished to talk about, but he couldn’t come up with anything, and he told the man such. “I can’t think of what you wish to speak about.” Harry stated honestly, his tone tinged in curiosity.

Crimson eyes stared into emerald and Voldemort tried to think about the best way to go about this. First thing first though, he spelled the door to the bedroom shut so the boy couldn’t run. Not that Harry could run away with the bond between them keeping them at a certain distance, but he wouldn’t put it passed Harry to try and escape from this conversation. He also did the same to the bathroom door. He would not allow Harry to either run or hide from this conversation. Voldemort was going to get to the bottom of Harry's past whether the boy wanted him to or not.

“You have not been eating as much as a boy your age should be. You aren’t sleeping well either, as evident by the dark purplish circles around your eyes. You are too thin and too short given the stature of you parents, which means something has kept your growth stunted. Now, are you going to explain why you aren’t eating or sleeping properly or do I need to drag it from your mind?” Voldemort stated, his tone threaded through with steel. The boy would answer him.

Harry's eyes widened until he took on the appearance of a skittish animal staring in the face of a predator. His breath quickened slightly, but the youth forced himself to take a deep breath to calm down. The man didn’t know anything, so he could just play it off like he was still getting used to living here and he was nervous about what he could and could not do. That was a believable situation and that’s what Harry would go with. But he would play ignorant first. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just haven’t been very hungry and I’m not comfortable sleeping in the same bed as someone else.” Harry stated hesitantly.

A nonexistent eyebrow rose as Voldemort stared incredulously at the boy. Did Harry really think that meager lie was going to work on him? He was a Dark Lord who had decades of knowledge on how to tell when someone was lying to him. Also, the bond was tugging insistently, indicating he was not reaching the cause of Harry's distressing eating and sleeping habits. “And I may have actually believed that lie had I not found you curled up sleeping **_under_** the bed all those nights ago. And let’s add to that that I heard your conversation with your familiar even though you tried to hide it from me. We cannot be far enough part that you could keep that conversation from me. I **_know_** you are having nightmares about your family and I **_know_** you haven’t had a pleasant childhood. So, are we going to talk about this like civilized wizards or do I need to break into your mind to find the information I desire. Keep in mind that I will be learning the truth either way, the way in which I glean the information is entirely up to you.” Voldemort stated, still staring into emerald eyes.

Harry's eyes were darting around frantically now and his breaths were coming out in pants as he approached a full blown panic attack. He couldn’t talk about his past. He needed to forget it. It was in the past and that’s where it should stay. He couldn’t believe he thought the man wouldn’t be able to hear his conversation with his beloved familiar. He should have known better since the man had been keeping a close watch on him. Without thinking clearly, Harry darted up and tried to run to the door leading out of the room, but he dropped to the floor before he got halfway to the door as pain started coursing through him. He struggled to crawl back to the bed and when the pain descreased to a mere prickling sensation, Harry tried escaping into the bathroom, only to find the door locked. He whimpered in desperate need to escape and tugged uselessly on the handle that would not budge for him

Harry ignored the prickling sensation that indicated he was supposed to return to the dark wizard’s side and he slid down the door to curl up in a fetal position again the wood blocking his escape. He was lost in his panic and misery that he didn’t even hear Voldemort's approach until he felt a hand on his wrist, pulling him up from the ground. He struggled blindly for a moment before he slumped within in the man’s grip. He was too tired to put up much of a fight and he was led back to the bed, where he proceeded to curl back up under the covers.

Seeing the boy in such a panicked state sent the bond crazy and it tried to force the Dark Lord to comfort the boy. Voldemort felt the urge to push the compulsion away, but he thought about it a moment longer. If he comforted the boy, would that man the younger wizard more likely to answer his questions? There was just one problem. Voldemort had never comforted anyone in his life and he was uncertain just how to make Harry calm down. He decided to let the instincts of the bond guild him and he allowed his hand to reach out and card his fingers through the boy’s silky black locks.

Harry stilled instantly and gasped in a breath sharply at the feel of those long, icy fingers dragging along his scalp. The sensation felt good, but situation was incredibly awkward for both parties. However, after a moment or two, Harry relaxed into the touch and took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Once his mind was cleared of the panic that had gripped in only moments earlier, Harry could think clearly about this. There was no way he could hide the truth anymore after Voldemort heard his conversation with Hedwig. And he knew the man would not hesitate to pull the information from his mind should Harry prove uncooperative. He remembered the lessons with Snape and knew he would not be able to block the man, nor did he want to deal with the unbearable headache he received afterwards. There was only one way to handle this situation with as little pain as possible, and that was to just tell the man everything. Unfortunately, while speaking about his relatives would save him from physical pain; it would not save him from the emotional pain of bringing up the past. Harry took a deep breath and held it for a count of ten before rolling over so he was facing the Dark Lord.

“What do you want to know?” He asked his voice quiet with reluctance. He would answer the man’s questions, but he would not be giving up the information without prompting. The less he had to remember the better and he would avoid it at all costs.

Voldemort took in the boy’s hesitant position and decided that questioning the boy would be a better option that trying to get the boy to speak freely of his relatives. He had to admit that he had been startled when the boy had jumped out of bed. While he locked the door on the suspicion that the boy might try to run, he hadn’t expected the boy to react quite like he had. The Harry that had escaped from the bed had not been one that just wanted to avoid the conversation like Voldemort had been expecting. This boy had been terrified and panicked and that was why he tried to escape. There was definitely something about the boy’s past the Harry wanted to forget, but the Dark Lord needed to know.

The two of them spent the next few hours talking about everything in Harry's past. Voldemort asked about the food situation and Harry explained that his uncle would make him cook elaborate meals and would refuse to give Harry anything. He stated that when he was home for the summer, he never expected to eat a lot, and when his friends had found out, they started sending him packages of food. He told the dark wizard that there would be times when Vernon would say Harry could eat and before he managed to get more than two bites off the plate, the food would be snatched from him and he was sent to his room. Voldemort finally understood why Harry didn’t eat as much as he should have. The man suspected that the boy’s stomach was too small to handle a large meal and he would speak with Severus about brewing specialized nutrient potions for the boy.

After the discussion of food, they moved on to his living conditions. Harry talked about how he had slept in the cupboard under the stairs until his Hogwarts letter had come. He explained that his cousin had previously had two rooms, one in which the boy slept and the other used to keep the things that wouldn’t fit in his first room. Harry told Voldemort that even when Harry had been moved into his cousin’s second bedroom, none of the previous items had been removed as if the tell Harry this room was not totally his. Harry described all the chores he had to do and how he was sure to receive no food if the chores weren’t completed in a timely manner.

He made it quite clear to Voldemort that he was not abused. He told the older man the worst that happened was that Vernon had smacked him once or twice; his aunt had tried to hit him with a frying pan on occasion, but never managed to land a hit because Harry was smart enough to move quickly; and that his cousin would play Harry Hunting and punching him when he was caught. After Harry shared what his nightmare had been about, the two of them sat in silence for a while.

While Harry didn’t think this was abuse, Voldemort certain thought it was a form of abuse and he did not like it one bit. While he was not physically abused, he was emotionally abused by his abhorred relatives. They kept food from him, locked him in places not suitable for children, and degraded him at ever chance. The Dark Lord could feel the fury churning in his stomach, but he kept his expressionless mask on his face as to not scare the boy. Harry, having dragged up so many unwanted emotions and memories, soon drifted off into a fitful sleep that had Voldemort carding his fingers through the inky black hair once more without even thinking about it.

When the Dark Lord had come out of his thoughts, he was shocked to see that he started petting the boy once more without his consent. This bond was starting to become bothersome and the dark wizard was unsure of how he felt. On the one hand, he found the motion soothing both to his emotions and the bond. On the other hand, he was slightly annoyed that his body was reacting without his consent. Stopping the motion, Voldemort turned to stare at the wall in front of his while he drifted back into his thoughts.

The bond was certainly not going to allow the boy’s relatives to get away with their neglect of Harry. He could feel that from the way the bond was pulling at him to get revenge for his spouse. And he wanted to. He wanted nothing more than to hunt down those lowlife muggles and show them just what happened when they abused a wizard child. But he also knew the boy wouldn’t be happy if he found out the dark wizard killed his only living relatives. He needed to think about this situation carefully and plan everything out slowly so this didn’t backfire. However, as an unholy light lit up the crimson eyes and turned them into hellfire, Voldemort came up with an ingenious plan that would benefit everything. He resisted the urge to laugh manically and settled down in his bed. Oh, he knew he would not be sleeping much that night. There was too many ideas buzzing in his mind and a demonic smile slipped across his face as his plan came together within his diabolical mind. _Oh yessssssss_ , he thought, this was going to perfect for both him and the boy.


End file.
